[ chapter 07. dreams ]

LISA

After Newt had assigned me to a day's work with the Builders I made my way over to a huge tower that stood in the middle of the Glade. Several boys were carrying pieces of wood towards it while others were taking them up to finish the tower at the top. I figured these were Builders.

'Hey, Greenie,' one of them walked up to me. He was tall, his shoulders broad and his face covered in freckles. 'Name's Gally, I'm the Keeper of the Builders.'

I offered him a smile. 'Name's Lisa, not Greenie.'

A chuckle left his lips as he shook his head. 'Alright then, Lisa, today we're finishing up this guard tower we've been working on for a few weeks now. I figured you could help carrying the wood from the Deadheads over to here. Let's see how long you last.'

I raised my eyebrows at him. 'Is that a challenge?'

He smiled at me. 'If that's what you want to call it.'

Turning my back to him I made my way over to the forest where a pile of wood was waiting for me. Two boys stood a few feet away, chopping a tree trunk into smaller pieces. I kneeled down next to one of the pieces of wood, putting it on my shoulder before standing back up and walking towards the guardtower.

Gally was watching me with his arms crossed over his chest, a small smile lingering on his face.

I offered him a smirk before throwing the piece of wood down on the ground and walking back to the forest to gather more. And so it kept on going the entire morning. By the time Gally yelled for us go get some lunch my arms were aching and sweat was crawling down my back. The only thing that made it slightly bearable though was the fact that I wasn't the only one who was sweating. Some of the boys had taken off their shirts while working, which made my day all the better. I didn't really know if they did it because there was suddenly a girl in their midst but honestly I couldn't care less. It was a nice distraction from the horrible work. I had already decided that I definitely didn't want to be a Builder.

Walking into the kitchen I headed to the counter where Frypan was already waiting for me with a a plate in his hands. Smiling gratefully at him I took it and turned to look around the cafeteria. My eyes spotted Dawn, Thomas and a kid I believed was called Chuck, sitting into a corner together. I made my way over to them. 'Hey everyone,' I said as I reached them.

Their gazes turned to me and Dawn offered me a smile as I sat down next to her. 'So, how was your morning with the Builders?' She asked me.

The corners of my mouth turned upwards I tried to hide my smile, but failed horribly. 'Horrible, except for that the boys around here are really good looking.'

Dawn raised her eyebrows at me.

'They were sweating so much they decided to take of their shirts,' I explained.

Thomas snickered as Chuck let out a booming laugh. Dawn started coughing violently as a piece of her food got stuck in her throat. Shaking her head she finally managed to calm down, a huge smile covering her face.

'What's going on with him?' Chuck suddenly asked. 'Looks like you shanks when you popped out of the Box.'

I turned to see who he was looking at and my eyes fell on Newt, who indeed looked horrible. It seemed like he hadn't slept in days. He was biting his nails, staring at nothing really as his thoughts seemed miles away.

'I don't know,' Thomas said, 'why don't you go ask him?'

'I can hear every bloody word you guys are saying,' Newt suddenly called out making me jump. 'No wonder people hate sleepin' next to you shanks.'

'What's wrong with you?' Chuck asked. 'No offense, but you look like klunk.'

'Every lovin' thing in the universe,' Newt replied, then he fell silent and took a deep breath before finally adding. 'The girl from the Box keeps on groanin' and saying all kinds of weird stuff but won't wake up. Med-jacks're doing their best to feed her, but she's eatin' less each time. I'm tellin' ya, something's very bad about that whole thing.'

'That's not what this is about, is it?' Dawn said to him and I frowned at her, wondering how she could read him so well.

'Shuck it,' Newt sighed, 'Alby and Minho. They should've come back hours ago.'

His words kept on ringing loudly through my head the rest of the day, distracting me from doing even the simplest of things, like hitting a nail into wood the right way. Gally kept on shaking his head at me until I got so annoyed that I told him why exactly I was being distracted. His face went pale and the rest of the day he seemed to be walking around aimlessly, yelling orders that made no sense.

Finally he told me and the others the day was over, as no one seemed able to keep their heads straight anymore. After getting a glass of water by Frypan I headed over to what had become my favorite spot, the Deadheads.

Leaning against the tree I watched Newt walking from Door to Door, looking for his friends. Thomas, Chuck and Dawn stood by the East Door, staring into the Maze. But Minho and Alby didn't show up and while the time ticked away I started to loose hope they ever would.

Still I kept my gaze focused on the doors, not wanting to miss them if they came running into the Glade all of a sudden. It was weird because I barely knew either of the guys and yet the thought of them dying out there made me shiver. Maybe it was just because I didn't want to admit people actually died here.

The sudden rumble of the closing doors echoed through the Glade and I sighed deeply. It was truly over now. If they hadn't been killed by whatever had prevented their return, they would surely be dead by the time those Doors would open again.

A sudden shout came out of Thomas his direction. 'Look there!'

I moved away from the tree, staring at the door with wide eyes. I couldn't see them from here but clearly Minho and Alby were in sight as Dawn turned around to scream at Newt. 'Newt! Newt, there they are!' She turned back towards the doors and I frowned. Why weren't they coming? They must be right there and something was obviously wrong for them to take this long to reach the Glade.

The Doors had almost closed, the loud rumble still sounding through the Glade as I watched Dawn and Thomas shift nervously as my breath suddenly caught in my throat.

'Don't do it Tommy!' Newt shouted, realising what they were about to do as well. 'No way you're doing that Dawn. Don't bloody do it!'

But I knew they wouldn't listen. Newt was running as fast as he could but he would never catch up to them with his limp. Dawn threw a glare over her shoulder, her eyes finding mine and I was almost startled by seeing the burning determination on her face.

'Don't you bloody dare!' Newt screamed loudly. 'NO!' But his words seemed to be hit nothing but a wall as Thomas and Dawn started moving towards at the same time.

My eyes widened as I watched them run into the Maze, the doors closing them and I realised I had been holding my breath. Slowly I breathed out, my heart beating violently in my chest.

Suddenly I noticed Newt as he was staring numbly at the doors. Carefully I walked towards him but before I could say something he already broke the silence. 'Don't bloody dare to say that they'll come back,' he mumbled. 

'I won't,' I told him, 'you showed me what's out there. And everybody keeps on saying that nobody survives a night in the Maze.'

He turned to me, a furious look in his eyes, but I knew it was just a mask for his real feelings. I couldn't read him, I had no idea what he was feeling but I did know the anger was a mask, because I had been wearing the same one ever since I came. 'Listen blondie,' I sighed at him. 'I don't know if they are coming back or not. But somehow I know...' I doubted, the words laying on my tongue were weird, but for some strange reason I knew it was the truth. 

'What?' Newt hissed.

'I do know that Dawn would hate us forever if we gave up hope,' I finally finished.

'I know,' Newt said before turning around and walking away.

I followed him with my eyes until he was inside the Homestead, a frown on my face. It seemed like I wasn't the only one Dawn felt familiar to and a sudden thought crossed my mind. Was he the one to remind her of her real name? Newt knew something and he wasn't planning on telling anyone, but once again it seemed like Dawn was the key. I had known her name, even before she had. Newt and I both know what she wanted us to do, even though I had barely talked to her since we had gotten her. That girl and I had a special connection and I wanted to know why, but now she was gone, probably dead. And I could never ask her opinion about this whole klunk situation.

I threw one last glare at the wall of the Maze and suddenly I couldn't hold myself back anymore and I hit the wall with my fist, letting out a frustrated scream. 'Shuck you!' I shouted. I hated this whole situation. I hated the Maze, the loss of my memories, my nightmares and the constant state of feeling so annoyingly helpess. I screamed again and then sank down against the wall, my head in my hands. I felt a sob coming up in my throat but stopped myself before it could come out. Then I rolled up as a little ball as darkness settled over the Glade.

I tried to run, but my feet couldn't move. I wanted to keep looking forwards but my head turned around anyway as if I'd lost all control over my body. My eyes widened by the sight behind me, a shape made of shadows with red glowing eyes, came closer and closer to me. 

I tried to turned back around, tried to move my feet but they were still stuck. My gaze went down to see what was holding them back and a startled gasp left my lips. I was standing in a river of blood, it came up until my ankles. I was struggling to breath as I felt the shadows behind me moving closer. I twisted and struggled, trying to move but I was stuck in the blood. My body was fighting to get loose but the blood was holding me back. Again I looked down and frowned as the blood was turning a dark shade of red.

Suddenly two hands came up from out of the blood and grabbed my ankles, a yelp escaped my lips. The person who the hands belonged to pulled itself up, out of the blood. It was a girl with a pale skin and brown hair, blood dripping of her clothes.

Then she looked at me, a smile forming her lips, but not a friendly one, more like that of a lion getting ready to attack its prey. 'You should've stopped me from going in there,' she whispered. I struggled to breathe when suddenly she came charging at me...

I gasped and opened my eyes, sweat was dripping down my forehead. A groan left my mouth as I sat up from my uncomfortable sleeping position. I rubbed my temples as the dream was still vividly present in my head. I felt terrified, my body still shaking from the horrible visions. 

It was Dawn.

The girl in my dreams was definitely Dawn. What was going on with me? This was the second dream I had since coming here. In the first one I was being chased by shadows while I was running through a dark maze. And now this...

I took a deep breath and removed my hair out of my eyes. They had to mean something. It couldn't be a coincidence that I was dreaming about Dawn, covered in blood, while she was out there. Whatever was happening to her outside those walls, it couldn't be good.

The connection I felt with her was so strange and yet it felt like it had always been there. All I could do for now, though, was sit here and hope she was still alive. As I stared at my hands and tried to stop them from trembling I promised myself something. If she would step out of that Maze I was going to talk with her. I had to know more about our connection. If I could understand it, maybe things would become more clear.

Suddenly a horribly loud rumble reached my ears. The doors were opening.

I jumped up and took a few steps backwards, gazing up and wondering how on earth it was possible they were even able to move. Footsteps reached me and I turned to my left to see Newt running up next to me, our eyes locked and I saw the little spark of hope on his face. It was faint, barely even visible but even with everything he knew about the Maze, he wanted to hope they made it somehow. And that was enough for me to do the same.

I turned back to the Door, which had now opened so far I could walk inside if I wanted to. My heart was beating like crazy in my chest as I stared into the long corridor.

They had to be alive...